The boys wanted to go out for pizza on Isaak's birthday. Can you tell I'm behind in my posts? His birthday was May 19.

Anyhow I wanted to go somewhere that sort of fit in with my diet. Cheese and gluten don't really mix. There is a local pizza place called Zio's Pizza that has gluten free crust. I do love their pizza!

I felt kind of odd when I walked in. There was one of my students serving. Then I look ahead, and there's a table of my students. I like both my family, and my students, but it's odd when the two parts of my life mix. I like to leave them some what separated. Yes I talk about work at home, and yes I talk about family at school, but not a lot. I certainly don't hang out with both together.

I was picturing my student's going on about, "Oh you should have seen her family...", "Her husband tips well.", "Her husband tips crappy.", "OMG Mrs. Apel has to have gluten free." and "Her kids are loud." As you can see I don't like mixing the two parts of my life.

Well it all seemed dandy.

Mica loves watching their TV that is on the ground.

The boys seemed happy that Grandma and Grandpa showed up without them knowing.

Isaak has trouble with crossword puzzles. It didn't help that 1/2 the words were backwards. Daddy helped him.

Grandpa helped Mica; even though he didn't need help.

I love that Zio's Pizza will give the kids dough to play with. I didn't ask for any, since the kids were well occupied.

Our pizza did have cheese, but no gluten. It was a Natural Chicken and Feta Combo, and the boys got Margherite Pizza. I didn't get any pictures of our food, but here it is from their site.

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday is all about me discovering something that
is different. I don't want to post things that you and I have
more than likely heard before. I want to find something different. It
could be from another country, someone singing from the streets of NY,
and more.

This week I'm covering Victor Wooten. He's not unknown, I just didn't know him. I feel like I've been hiding under a rock, since I haven't heard of him. He's actually a recipient of five Grammy Awards. He was also awarded, "Bass Player of the Year" 3 times in a row in Bass Player magazine. He's been featured in Rolling Stone as well.

Victor is an American bass player, composer, author, teacher, and producer.

I'm just happy cut up paper isn't in the mix this time.
What kind of messes do you find yourself cleaning up on a regular basis? I guess Isaak cleans his messes up, but I have to look at it.

It's been nice weather wise. Then a sudden burst of rain happens. I saw a rainbow. I haven't seen one of those for a long time. I wish there was a pot of gold at the end of it.

I think I have summer school, but no one has told me when it starts. Hummm...do I dare to ask? Last year I didn't ask. Then I found out on a Friday that I was to start teaching on a Monday.

I know the Ridset Detox Cleanse was working. Two days after I stopped taking it my asthma kicked in. I've been coughing up well stuff. It's been hard to breathe. My husband said my skin felt softer when I was on it to. Also stomach issues that I had before the cleanse, left me while I was on the cleanse, and now I had issues all one day. I have to wait a month before I start taking it again. :( I went into taking that cleanse as a complete skeptic. Now I really think it worked!

Isaak is excited - he starts jiu-jitsu next week! We're taking a break from swimming since Mica wasn't trying hard, and Isaak's way ahead for his age. We'll also have nights and days where we won't be able to go due to travel. We'll go back to it. It's just a break. We can always go swimming for fun.

It's thin, but don't let that fool you. It dries off wetness better than the thicker towels. Usually when we go to the pool I carry home a big wet mess. When I used Shandali Travel Towel it dried so fast.

It's better on your washer because it is so thin.

It dries 10 times faster than cotton towels. It works best if you hang it to dry.

It's made out of a material that is 100% microfiber. 80% Polyester and 20% Nylon.

It's soft and durable.

Since it is thin it saves room in your swimming bag, or suitcase.

It has a fabric hook, which makes it easier to hang, and dry.

Colors:

Pebbleand Stone

River Blue

Light Blue (The one I got to review)

No Bleed
Dye! That's right, the color does not fade, or go on to other things in the wash.

Sizes:

Small: 20"x40" $24.95, and on sale for $14.95

Medium: 24"x48" (I picked the medium size) $29.95, and on sale for $19.95

Some Uses:

The swimming pool (So far I brought it along to dry off Isaak at the swimming pool. It worked great!)

The beach

Traveling

Camping

The gym

Boating

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the
product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was
under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any
obligation to write a positive review.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

I forgot to put this up. I made this invite for Isaak and Evan's birthday party. I thought it was nice not having something superhero like for once. Isaak loves being outdoors, and Evan got what he wanted for his friend party so we went for it.

Their bodies are not their bodies. There's two backgrounds here, burlap for the sign, veggies added, and the boy's heads. Yes they look odd. They are supposed to. They are collaged that way.

We had a taco bar. Collard Greens were out for those that didn't want gluten. They work pretty well for wraps. Now Grandma told me that they make gluten free shells. We had homegrown corn. Then all the toppings. Grandma brought a relish tray, Aunt Terra brought a watermelon, and Aunt Angela brought salsa and guacamole. I made gluten free brownies, and brownies that were not gluten free. Isaak likes them more than cake. Terra brought a rhubarb pie. Then there was all kinds of ice cream. I had rice milk ice cream.

I put little flower pots at the tables, with the silverware and a napkin in them.

The kids played, and played.

Isaak got a rainbow loom from Terra, big wooden letters for him to decorate that spell out Isaak, more craft stuff, money and Lego sets. He scored big.

You're probably wondering, What the heck is up with the title of this post?

Isaak brought home about 5 journals at the end of the year. In most of them he can write whatever he wants.

I just love how they write when they are 5. They write things phonetically and backwards.

Here's what he wrote:

I like to see awt my wido I see a kare and a rake and a trak and a dillden and I like to see awte my wido. I like to play with my drother I like to qlay with my drothr I drag kostms awt the hase like to qlay soq eeros gamse.Here's what it is translated as:

I like to see out my window. I see a car and a rake and a truck and a building and I like to see out my window. I like to play with my brother. When I play with my brother I like to play with my brother. (not sure why that's twice, but it's cute.) I drag costumes out the house like to play superheros games.

I think I've read it 15 times. The first time I was trying to figure out what it all was, the second time I was still trying to figure out what it all was, and after that I got it. I smile each time I read it. They have to start somewhere.

It's good to see that he likes to play superheros with his brother.

I think it's so funny that Mica started out never drawing ears on his people. We kept telling Mica, "This person can't hear." Isaak's all about ears. His people can hear really well!

I do have to say that both of my boys had/have pretty good handwriting.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

I've been trying to eat healthier for two reasons: My allergies are bad, and I need to loose weight. Much of my diet consists of kale, collard greens, plainish meat, other veggies and fruit (mostly) berries. When I want a snack I pull out gluten free crackers, or chips to eat. I've been pretty successful in eating this way.

Why Go Gluten Free?

There are a variety of reasons. I work with a lady that is prone to get Celiac Disease. It's a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and
prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying
healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. I don't have Celiac Disease, but I am miserable all the time with allergies. I'm not just talking about seasonal allergies. My stomach is in shambles often. I've gotten testing done, and they couldn't find anything. Therefore I think it's best to try and be as healthy as possible.

Mary's Gone Crackers

I was super excited a few weeks ago when I found out I won my choice of crackers from Mary's Gone Crackers. All of their products are gluten free. If you haven't tried their products, you should. They have a variety of crackers, cookies, crumbs, and pretzels.

I chose to try out their new crackers Hot 'n Spicy Jalapeño. Other flavors of crackers that they have are: Super Seed, Original Seed, Onion, Caraway, Black Pepper and Herb. They all sounded good to me! Their crackers are more of a rice cracker. I wanted the crackers to be something I could enjoy without my oh so hungry boys eating them down. They eat anything and everything, but do not like spicy things.

Since I mentioned that I was going to blog about their products, they asked me if I'd like some of their cookies, or pretzels? I went with Double Chocolate Cookies. They are good. I have shared them. The boys gave me their thumbs up!

I had some of their pretzels already. They don't taste like the standard pretzel. Just like with their crackers, their pretzels have more of a rice flavor. I've only had their Sea Salt flavor. Other favors are: Chipotle Tomato, and Curry.

This is a plate of crackers and pretzels.

Ingredients:

All their ingredients are organic, gluten free, non-gmo, whole grain, vegan and kosher. They list each and every ingredient on their website for each food they sell right on their website, which I happen to love.

Extras:

Mary's Gone Crackers also sent me coasters. These are not typical coasters. They are made out of biodegradable paper. Inside the paper is wild flower seeds! How cool is that? I just love it

They gave me a pepper pen, which fits my bright kitchen. I have pepper colors in there.

A bottle opener, which is always handy.

Toothpicks, which are also useful.

My favorite extra was the Keen water bottle they sent me. I've used it every day.

Have you tried any products at Mary's Gone Crackers?

Like Mary's Gone Crackers on their Facebook page. They have giveaways often!

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the
product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was
under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any
obligation to write a positive review.

When a lather starts to form,
continue rubbing for 15-20 seconds to make sure that the brush will
have picked up enough soap.

Rub that over your wet beard, brushing
vigorously, to coat the beard with soap, and the lather will start to
build. Shave, rinse and feel wonderful.

Giveaway Time:

One of my US readers is going to win Barbershop Shave Soap Bar in a Jar. It's your choice on the scent.
a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the
product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was
under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any
obligation to write a positive review.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com